The present invention is directed generally to a wireless communication system and, more particularly, to a system and method for the use of dual-tone multi-frequency signals in a wireless communication system.
Wireless communication devices, such as cellular telephones, are widely used as a replacement for conventional telephone systems. In addition to functioning as a replacement for a conventional telephone, wireless communication devices offer the advantage of portability, thus enabling the user to establish a wireless communication link between virtually any two locations on Earth.
In addition to conventional voice communication, wireless communication devices also provide features such as voicemail, voice messaging, and automatic callback notification. Callback notification allows a caller to automatically transmit his telephone number to simplify the process of returning a call. For example, the user of a wireless telephone may place a call that is not received by the intended recipient. A message may be left for the intended recipient and include a xe2x80x9ccallback number,xe2x80x9d which corresponds to the caller""s mobile identification number. The message recipient may readily establish a communication link with the wireless communication device using the callback number.
Other features, such as three-way calling, are also readily implemented using the conventional communication device. The user of the wireless communication device establishes a first communication link by selecting a stored telephone number from a telephone book storage area within the wireless communication device. When the first communication link is established, the user establishes the second communication link by manually entering a second destination telephone number or by selecting a second destination telephone number from the telephone book storage area.
As is well known in the art, DTMF tones are used to indicate the selection of keys on a telephone keypad. While the user of the conventional wireless communication device can manually enter digits on the keypad and transmit data as DTMF tones, there is no convenient way to automatically send stored data as a series of DTMF tones. Therefore, it can be appreciated that a system and method for processing stored data as DTMF tones would offer a useful advantage. The present invention provides this and other advantages as will be apparent from the following detailed description and accompanying figures.
The present invention is directed to a system and method for processing data stored in a wireless communication device as a series of dual-tone multi-frequency (DTMF) tones. The wireless communication device comprises a storage area to store data. An indicator is available to indicate that the stored data should be processed as DTMF data. An input device operable by the user can select a portion of the stored data for processing.
In one embodiment, the storage area comprises a plurality of predetermined data locations reserved for storing data that will be processed as DTMF data. The data location itself serves as the indicator that the data stored in the plurality of predetermined data locations should be processed as DTMF data.
The device may further include an identification number stored in the storage area with the indicator indicating that the identification number should be processed as DTMF data. For example, the device may have a mobile identification number which is stored in the storage area and processed as DTMF data. In addition, the stored data may include account data or access code data that is processed as DTMF data.
Alternatively, the device may include a data portion associated with the stored data that serves as the indicator that the data in the storage area should be processed as DTMF data. In an exemplary embodiment, the input device is operated by the user in a predetermined manner to control the data portion and thereby indicate that the associated data should be processed as DTMF data.